From The patio dig

I went running around the property stealing concrete blocks for the water tower that feeds the shower. The water pressure was spitting out a trickle that reached the middle of my chest. By doubling the number of blocks in each column I think I’ve increased the stability and I raised the height enough to reach my neck. Much better.

From raise high the water tank

Dare I?

From fava beans

From shallots to bed

I was feeling annoyed at the mint plants Lisa planted that are taking over and blocking a path to the back woods but now there are some awesome flowers that are attracting bees.

From Bee on mint flower

Six goldfish are growing fat. How pleasant to sit by the side of the pond and watch them scarf up their food.

From goldfish

I plan to try some canning this fall. I saw a 23 quart pressure canner today at the store that I want to get. I have boxes of jars that I bought at a garage sale years ago. Candidates are beans and tomatoes. A friend has plums that I might make into chutney.
And a special thank you to the god of roses.

From rose2010

Namatianus lived at a time that was very close to the last gasp of the Empire. He found that, at some point, it wasn’t possible to live in Rome any longer. Everything was collapsing around him and he decided to take a boat and leave. He was born in Gallia, that we call “France” today, and apparently he had some properties there. So, that is where he headed for. That is the reason for the title “of his return”. He must have arrived there and survived for some time, because the document that he wrote about his travel has survived and we can still read it, even though the end is missing. So, Namatianus gives us this chilling report. Just read this excerpt:

“I have chosen the sea, since roads by land, if on the level, are flooded by rivers; if on higher ground, are beset with rocks. Since Tuscany and since the Aurelian highway, after suffering the outrages of Goths with fire or sword, can no longer control forest with homestead or river with bridge, it is better to entrust my sails to the wayward.”

Can you believe that? If there was a thing that the Romans had always been proud of were their roads. These roads had a military purpose, of course, but everybody could use them. A Roman Empire without roads is not the Roman Empire, it is something else altogether. Think of Los Angeles without highways. “Sic transit gloria mundi” , as the Romans would say; there goes the glory of the world. Namatianus tells us also of silted harbors, deserted cities, a landscape of ruins that he sees as he moves north along the Italian coast.

But what does Namatianus think of all this? Well, he sees the collapse all around him, but he can’t understand it. For him, the reasons of the fall of Rome are totally incomprehensible. He can only interpret what is going on as a temporary setback. Rome had hard times before but the Romans always rebounded and eventually triumphed over their enemies. It has always been like this, Rome will become powerful and rich again.

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Societies adapt to changes. Indeed, one characteristic of complex systems is of adapting to changing external conditions. It is called “homeostasis” and I tend to see it as the defining characteristic of a complex system (as opposed to simply complicated). So, in general, when you deal with complex systems, you should not think in terms of “cause and effect” but, rather, in terms of “forcing and feedback”. A forcing is something that comes from outside the system. A feedback is how the system reacts to a forcing, usually attaining some kind of homeostasis. Homeostasis, is a fundamental concept in system dynamics. Something acts on something else, but also that something else reacts. It is feedback. It may be positive (reinforcing) or negative (damping) and we speak of “feedback loops” which normally stabilize systems – within limits, of course.

How can you keep them down on the farm
After they’ve seen PeeTeeeee?

I finally faced facts and started weeding her space and preparing to plant. It has been a treat. She put down a thick layer of leaves and then put down some really rich black soil on top of that.
The deer have to be kept out so I’ve been digging holes, always fun when done at your own pace, and putting in posts. I had a heap of posts to choose from.

From WestGardenFence

The area under consideration continued to grow until I produced room for some fruit trees. It might not be sunny enough for fruit so maybe raspberries?
Facing south:

From WestGardenFence

I’m trying to figure out a way to keep the space near the Old Tool Shed easy to walk around in while stopping the deer. I understand they don’t like to enter into confined spaces. I try to confuse them with mazes that I can swivel through.

From WestGardenFence

We get the leaders and the government we deserve.
It was hard to dislike the public persona of President Reagan. Obama too is a charmer — basically another movie star.
I had hopes that his work as a community organizer was a foundational part of his character. I hoped an insight he writes about in his first book — a need to establish roots — was part of a larger ability to examine society and opt for fundamental changes. It is not something however that you can talk about on the campaign trail.
Now I see him as the guy elected president by the fraternity at college to give the illusion of modernity.
I thought his trip a few months ago by helicopter to New York for a night out on the town with Michele was a terrible gaffe as an image. Now when I see a picture of him on a golf course I flinch.
Sending more troops to Afghanistan is so depressing, so lacking in gravitas.
My analogue for our situation as a world empire is the southern slave states before the Civil War — similar traits of pride, greed, self righteousness, lack of empathy and the impossibility of letting go power. A real community organizer would recognize that sending more troops is not going to win the affections of the community of Afghans.

I’ve got nothing against Obama. In some ways I think the family relationships he models are as positive as any decisions he can make. However, he is the only national symbol of political leadership we have.
Two of his recent statements about the Gulf oil leak have me sighing. A few days ago he opined that the important thing was to clean up the oil spill, not to worry about how much oil was leaking. That second part seemed to evidence his tin ear and lack of fundamental clarity about the situation. This was a little before it became apparent that the leak was far larger than had been reported. If his efforts for the first month had not been geared to investigate the extent of the problem then all his talk about government response and effort was just spin.
Lately a commentator has pointed out that when he said he was disappointed that such a fine company as BP had not been giving accurate information about the leak he was neglecting the fact that BP had been cited for a startling number of dangerous workplace infractions.
He really is naive — a terrible attribute for a president in time of crisis.
He has described himself as pragmatic and optimistic. That can be interpreted in different ways but for him it seems to mean that you have to hope for the best while recognizing that you can’t really change anything fundamentally. That might be right. We are a world wide empire and that has inevitable consequences.
I have a much darker vision of life with one foot in the concept of the “banality of evil”. The other day at some dinner Obama made a joke about drone aircraft. How terrible to think that our habit of raining destruction on civilians by ‘mistake’ from Predator aircraft gliding silently through the sky can become a joke.
Evidently the administration is working to dilute the provisions of the financial reform bill — the “savvy businessmen” in the huge banks are ultimately trusted.
I find the fundamental mechanism of the health care reform — forcing people to buy insurance from private companies — to be noxious.
I can’t think of any ways that Obama is holding up a vision of the future that is inspiring in particulars and makes me want to work together with my fellow citizens. He is an optimistic, pragmatic, part of the corporate oligarchy.

From Soil Block and Pond

From Soil Block and Pond

Beans, brussel sprouts, bak choi, and fennel are producing well, basil is mediocre and none of the broccoli mix or asparagus are coming up.
The lettuce mix that malingered over the winter is doing great outside — enough for salad already.

From lettuce

From Pond

I peeled logs for an edging along the new hole I’m digging.

From Pond

Last year I picked up a plastic swimming pool left at the side of the road with a “free” sign. I cut off the top which left a really tough bottom and that part doesn’t seem to leak.

From Pond

I was surprised to find a spot on the property where I could dig deeper than a foot. I went back and dug it deeper — about two feet — and put in some gold fish.

From Soil Block and Pond

Yesterday in the afternoon I saw a raccoon come out for a drink. I hope the netting is protecting the fish.

Indra’s net (also called Indra’s jewels or Indra’s pearls) is a metaphor used to illustrate the concepts of emptiness,[2] dependent origination,[3] and interpenetration[4] in Buddhist philosophy. The metaphor of Indra’s net was developed by the Mahayana Buddhist school in the 3rd century scriptures of the Avatamsaka Sutra, and later by the Chinese Huayan school between the 6th and 8th century.[2]

Buddhist concepts of interpenetration hold that all phenomena are intimately connected; for the Huayan school, Indra’s net symbolizes a universe where infinitely repeated mutual relations exist between all members of the universe.[5] This idea is communicated in the image of the interconnectedness of the universe as seen in the net of the Vedic god Indra, whose net hangs over his palace on Mount Meru, the axis mundi of Vedic cosmology and Vedic mythology. Indra’s net has a multifaceted jewel at each vertex, and each jewel is reflected in all of the other jewels:[6]